


Thunderstorms and Yakuza Films

by Circuit



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Makoto Niijima Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 15:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12135912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Circuit/pseuds/Circuit
Summary: Seeking comfort one night from a thunderstorm, Makoto finds her father relaxing from a long week by watching a movie.Written for Day 4 of Tumblr's Makoto Niijima Week: Past/Backstory.





	Thunderstorms and Yakuza Films

A bolt of lightning flashed outside, followed shortly by the loud crack of thunder. Makoto let out a gasp, ducking under her blankets. Of all the nights to have trouble sleeping, it had to be during an intense thunderstorm?

She shuddered again at another clap of thunder, and climbed out of bed. Maybe her elder sister would be willing to comfort her.

Carefully making her way out of her room, she slowly made her way down the hall, when she heard a sound that wasn’t rain or thunder. It sounded like grown men talking in the living room area. Though, some of the words didn’t sound Japanese.

She slowly made her way down the hall to find her father sitting on the couch, watching what she guessed was a movie on TV. There was a Japanese man in a suit sitting and smoking at a conference table, four men, who were clearly not Japanese, sitting opposite him. A sixth person, someone dressed in more casual sweats, came and joined the lone smoker, having a quick conversation that Makoto missed the context to.

Before she knew what was happening, the men used the guns the person she guessed was the film’s protagonist had taped beneath the table to repeatedly shoot the four on the other side. Others, at hearing the gunshots, opened fire as well on some other people.

The man stood up, and quickly fired a few more shots into the bodies, snapping back at an apparent racist remark they made earlier.

“C-cool…” Makoto couldn’t help but mumble.

“Huh?” Makoto’s father paused the movie and looked over. So it was on a DVD, not a TV station. “Makoto? What are you doing still awake?”

“Oh, d-dad…” she mumbled. “Sorry, I was just-” A clap of thunder cut her off, and she jumped in place, shaking slightly.

“Oh, right,” he sighed. “Storms…”

“C-can I stay up with you?” Makoto asked.

“I dunno,” he said. “This movie isn’t really suitable for kids.”

“But…” she mumbled, a sad look in her eyes.

He gave a rough sigh and patted the couch next to him. “Come here.”

Makoto gave a smile and skipped over, sitting down next to him.

“Okay, so, don’t be too scared, okay?” he said. “And, don’t ever do what the people in this movie are doing. They aren’t the good guys.”

“They’re bad guys?” Makoto asked as her father pressed play again.

“Yeah, something like that,” he said. “They’re the kind of people I try to put away to keep the streets safe for you and your sister.”

“Try?”

“The law isn’t perfect,” her father sighed, patting her head as thunder rumbled again. “But, let’s save the heavy talks on justice for a less stormy night, okay? If the movie gets to be too much, just squeeze my arm.”

“Mhm,” Makoto said, nodding. She kept her gaze focused on the screen. While her hands did clench up eventually, it was from getting excited at the action scenes and shootouts.

Her father looked over on occasion, usually when he heard thunder, but saw no fear on his daughter’s face.

“So, you seemed to enjoy it,” her father said at the end, chuckling a little.

“It was cool,” Makoto said, smiling. “I didn’t understand some of it, though.”

“Well, it’s partially a foreign film,” he said. “It was a group thing between Japan, America, and I think England? I dunno for sure.”

“So they were speaking English?” Makoto asked. “I gotta study that, then!”

“There are other yakuza films that are in just Japanese,” her father said. “Uh, not to discourage you learning things.”

“What are you doing?” Sae’s voice asked.

The two looked over to see Makoto’s elder sister in her nightgown, arms crossed and staring at the two of them.

“We were watching a movie!” Makoto said.

“It’s almost midnight,” Sae said.

“But dad works so much,” Makoto frowned. “And I wanted to watch it with him.”

“It helped calm her during the storm,” he said. “Besides, she had fun, and it’s summer break. She can stay up.”

“It’s not healthy for a six-year-old to stay up this late,” Sae complained. She gave a small pout. “Besides, you never let me stay up to watch movies…”

“...did you want to watch it?” he asked.

"What I want is a glass of water and to go to bed," Sae said under her breath.

“We could watch it again!” Makoto said, having not heard her sister. “They were talking in other languages sometimes, sis!”

“What was this movie, exactly?” Sae asked.

“Oh, just a joint project made between-”

“Dad said it was a ‘yakuza movie’?” Makoto said, a slightly confused frown appearing on her face for a moment.

“You let her watch a movie like that?!” Sae gasped.

“...she liked it,” he mumbled.

“You spoil her far too much,” Sae said. “Well, if she has nightmares, you had better comfort her. And, Makoto, I don’t want you trying to imitate those films, okay? Yakuza are bad guys, alright? And you don’t want to be a bad guy.”

“Dad already told me about how they're bad,” said Makoto. “But movies are just for fun!”

“So long as you never do bad things,” said Sae. “You don’t want dad to arrest you, do you?”

“Daddy, you won’t arrest me, will you?” Makoto asked.

“I’d never do that,” he said. “You and Sae are both good girls.”

Makoto smiled, before letting out a yawn.

“Come on, before you get sick,” Sae said, walking over and picking her sister up. “Say goodnight, Makoto.”

“Goodnight, dad,” Makoto said.

“‘Night,” he said, tousling her hair.

“Sis, do you like yakuza movies?” Makoto asked as Sae carried her to her room.

“No, they aren’t really for girls,” Sae said.

“Oh,” Makoto said. “But, I liked it.”

“I’m glad you did,” said Sae. “If he had gotten you scared, I’d be really mad.”

“I don’t like it when you get mad,” Makoto said.

“Me neither,” Sae said, yawning. “Do you want to sleep in my room in case of nightmares?”

Makoto paused, before shaking her head. “The thunder stopped. I'll be okay.”

“Okay, then,” she said, bringing Makoto back to her own bed and tucking her in.

“Sis, can we all watch the movie again tomorrow? I wanna watch something with you.”

“Maybe a different movie,” Sae said. “But that sounds nice. Goodnight, Makoto.”

“Goodnight,” Makoto said, giggling as her sister kissed her forehead.

Sae smiled, before heading outside, shutting the door behind her. Her smile dropped as she returned to her room, never grabbing the water she initially woke up for, and went back to bed. Of all the films to introduce her sister to liking, it had to be a yakuza movie?

**Author's Note:**

> I've never actually seen a yakuza movie before, so I apologize if the brief descriptions I gave of it sounds confusing or too undetailed. I'm only going off of what few clips I could find of it.


End file.
